Joseph Christopher Toledo (born October 20, 1982) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. He was drafted by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the fourth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Toledo has also been a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

Early years

Toledo lived in Carlsbad, California while attending

La Costa Canyon High School La Costa Canyon High School (LCC) is a public high school located in Carlsbad, California. Established in 1996, it is a member of the San Dieguito Union High School District and serves the communities of Encinitas, south Carlsbad, Leucadia, Oliv ...

his Junior and Senior year of High School. Prior to that, he attended

Ralston High School Ralston High School (RHS) is located in Ralston, a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The school, a part of Ralston Public Schools, opened in 1954, as a building for grades 7–12, located at 82nd and Lakeview Drive. It relocated to its cu ...

Ralston, Nebraska Ralston is a city in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 6,494 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Omaha, Ralston is surrounded on three sides by the city of Omaha by 84th, 72nd, and L Streets, and by Sarpy County (Harrison ...

where he lettered in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. During his senior season, he made 34 receptions for 931 yards and 11

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He also played well as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

, recording 51 tackles, five sacks, and three forced fumbles. He finished his career with 75 receptions for 1,792 yards and 19

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. He also lettered in

and

College career

Toledo was a four-year letterman at the University of Washington from 2002 to 2005, playing in 32 games with 23 starts. He was redshirted in 2001, and played

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

before moving to the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

prior to the 2005 season. Toledo collected 291 yards with a pair of touchdowns on 27 receptions (10.8 avg) in 26 games as a tight end. After being redshirted in 2001, Toledo started five of the 13 games in which he appeared at tight end in 2002. He made three catches for 19 yards on the season, including a two-catch, 16-yard performance against

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Toledo started just three games in 2003, bothered most of the season with a

bulging disc Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physic ...

. On the year, he caught five passes for 70 yards, including three catches for 26 yards against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in the season opener. He had a career long 35-yard reception against

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Toledo appeared in 10 games in 2004, starting nine times. He did not play in season opener against

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

with a groin injury. Toledo tied for second on the team with 19 receptions for 202 yards (10.6 avg.). He also had a pair of touchdown catches, with his first career score coming on a 24-yard toss from

Isaiah Stanback Isaiah Ramon Stanback (born August 16, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at ...

against

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

. He was the team's leading receiver against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

with six catches for 62 yards. Toledo shifted to offensive tackle during his senior season in 2005. He started six games as a senior - three each at right and left tackle. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the season opener against

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

that sidelined him for next five games. On the year, he graded 83.6 percent for blocking consistency and produced 37 key blocks/knockdowns with six resulting in touchdowns. He also allowed only one

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

on an offense that averaged 358.0 yards per game. Following the season, he participated in the

East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

At Washington's Pro Day in 2006, Toledo measured a height of 6-5 3/8 and a weight of 332 pounds. He finished the short shuttle in 4.66 seconds and the three-cone drill in 7.92 seconds while measuring a 29-inch vertical jump and an 8-foot-3 broad jump. At the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

earlier in the year, he ran a 5.11 40-yard dash.

Miami Dolphins

Toledo was drafted in the fourth round (114th overall) in the

by the Miami Dolphins and former head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

. On July 19, he signed a four-year deal containing base salaries of $275,000 for 2006, $360,000 for 2007, $445,000 for 2008 and $530,000 for 2009. The contract also included incentive clauses that could have pushed the worth of the deal to nearly $3 million. It included an estimated signing bonus of $430,000. After working at

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

during the team's May 2006 mini-camp, Toledo practiced at both guard and tackle during training camp. When projected starting right guard Seth McKinney was injured, Toledo was given a chance to win the job. Reports indicated he was leading the race over recently signed

Bennie Anderson Tyron Lamar "Bennie" Anderson (born February 17, 1977) is a former American football guard. He played collegiately at Tennessee State University. High school and college careers Anderson attended Cleveland Junior Naval Academy in St. Louis ...

, but a knee injury on August 15 slowed his development. Toledo only played in one game during the preseason, and was placed on Injured Reserve on September 3, ending his rookie season. Due to lingering injuries, Toledo was placed on the

Physically Unable to Perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

list on July 23. On February 11, 2008, Toledo was one of nine players released by the Dolphins.

Green Bay Packers

On February 28, 2008, Toledo was signed by the

. He was waived on June 4.

San Francisco 49ers

On June 10, 2008, Toledo was signed by the

. He was released by the team during final cuts on August 30 but re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. After spending the entire 2008 season on the practice squad, Toledo was re-signed to a future contract on December 29. He was waived on September 3, 2009.

San Diego Chargers

Toledo was signed to the practice squad of the

on October 27, 2009.

Seattle Seahawks

On May 2, 2010, Toledo signed a contract with the

. He was released by the team on September 4.

Omaha Nighthawks

Toledo was drafted by the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

in the third round (12th overall) of the 2011 UFL Draft on May 2, 2011.

Philadelphia Eagles

Toledo signed with the

on August 13, 2011. He was waived on August 15.

Personal life

Toledo holds a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the University of Washington, and majored in law, society, and justice.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bioSeattle Seahawks bioSan Diego Chargers bioSan Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toledo, Joe 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska American football tight ends American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Washington Huskies football players Miami Dolphins players Green Bay Packers players San Francisco 49ers players San Diego Chargers players Seattle Seahawks players Philadelphia Eagles players Sportspeople from Carlsbad, California Players of American football from San Diego County, California